Saturday, April 19, 2008

Though I became a Red Sox fan in 1988, I don't remember ever watching John Marzano play baseball.

Kevin Romine? Yep. Randy Kutcher? Absolutely. Ed Romero? Vaguely. I can recall any number of players from those days, but Marzano? Marzano remains a mystery to me.

I do recall seeing his name pop up years later, after he had left the Red Sox, missed a couple of years, and resurfaced with the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners. He finally retired in 1998 and jumped on the path followed by so many former major leaguers, becoming an analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies and cohosting a morning show for Major League Baseball.

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Comments:

Whoa, Johnny Marz is a fixture on local Philadelphia radio and is a really great baseball mind and was really well-respected. He was the main sport radio station 610 WIP all the time. This comes as a shock and he will truly be missed.

John was a very popular figure here in Philly, not only in covering the Phils but also exhibiting his "fan side" outwardly for all the Philadelphia sports teams. Turned to local news during a break in the Utah-Houston game and, when you see someone like him as the lead story at 11pm you know something has gone terribly wrong. Very sad news.

9:54, I hope you get deleted. He wasn't a klutz, he had a heart attack. The Mets fan dad who decided it would be fun leaving the stadium sliding down a rail only to fall off and die with his kid's watching though is Darwin Award worthy and I'm a Mets fan.

This was truly sad news for those who follow Philly sports. Johnny Marz was a true home-grown kid from South Philadelphia who was passionate about baseball and his work. He and Michael Barkann were spot-on with their post-game analysis on Comcast SportsNet, was always enjoyable to watch.

My heartfelt condolences to his family. It was very hard for his colleagues at CSN to do that wonderful tribute last night, and I'm sure that the Morning Team on WIP will be doing their show Monday morning with heavy hearts because he was much respected.